Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government which parts of the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Act 2025 are not yet commenced, and when each of those parts will be commenced.

The Public Authorities (Fraud, Error, and Recovery) Act 2025 achieved Royal Assent on Tuesday 2 December 2025. The Act will help to address the significant challenge of public sector fraud and error, which costs the taxpayer billions of pounds annually.

The Act will modernise our legislative framework, to help identify, prevent, and deter fraud and to enable better recovery of debt owed to the taxpayer. It will also further help us to protect claimants by stopping errors earlier and therefore minimise debts. It is expected to deliver benefits to the taxpayer of £2.1 billion over the next five years, as certified by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).

The outstanding measure in Part 1 of the Act (Section 73) would set up the enforcement activities in Part 1 of the Act as an arm's length body. As Ministers explained during the Act's passage, establishing an arm’s-length body for a small enforcement team would not currently represent value for money. A decision whether to pursue the transfer of functions under Section 73 will be made at a later date, once a review of how effectively the powers are used, has been carried out. Therefore, commencement of Section 73 is being kept under review.

The remaining measures within Part 2 of the Act, which are Information Gathering and Search and Seizure, will be introduced over a number of years, coming into force at different points between the 2026–27 and 2028–29 reporting years. Implementation and digital change are already ongoing.